Induced hydraulic fracturing is a technique used to release oil and natural gas by creating and maintaining open fractures from a wellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations. A hydraulically pressurized liquid (i.e. a “fracking fluid”) comprising water, chemicals, and a particulate proppant material is injected into the wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which oil and natural gas can flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, the proppant material prevents the induced fractures from closing.
The physical characteristics of the proppant material (e.g., particle size, particle size distribution, specific gravity, surface friction, strength, etc.) have a significant impact on hydraulic fracturing operations and hydrocarbon recovery. Currently available proppants comprised of sand, ceramic, glass, or sintered bauxite are significantly denser than the fracking fluid. This results in non-optimal distributions of the proppant particles within the well. Moreover, existing proppants demonstrate a degraded performance over time due to the production of “fines” (crushed fine particulates). The fines settle after removal of the fracking fluids, and greatly reduce permeability to oil and natural gas.
What is needed are proppant materials, and methods of preparing proppant materials, having a low density close to that of water while maintaining a high strength to withstand closure stresses, thereby resulting in increased oil and natural gas well productivity. Surprisingly, the present invention meets this and other needs.